Body

Memphis, Tenn. – Studies at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., are advancing our understanding of how viruses, including RSV, replicate in humans, mutate to avoid the immune response and can be effectively treated.

Women who live in a culture in which they are objectified by others may in turn begin to objectify themselves. This kind of self-objectification may reduce women's involvement in social activism, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

ANN ARBOR—Scientists have known for nearly a century that cold-blooded animals, such as worms, flies and fish all live longer in cold environments, but have not known exactly why.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute have identified a genetic program that promotes longevity of roundworms in cold environments—and this genetic program also exists in warm-blooded animals, including humans.

Research carried out by scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and The University of Manchester has revealed new insights into how cells stick to each other and to other bodily structures, an essential function in the formation of tissue structures and organs. It's thought that abnormalities in their ability to do so play an important role in a broad range of disorders, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Obesity rates have increased dramatically in the last few decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, African Americans make up more than 60 percent of the overweight and obese population, while only 13 percent of the total population. A new study from the University of Missouri School of Journalism shows that American newspapers, and specifically newspapers geared toward an African-American audience, frame stories on obesity in a negative way.

In laboratory studies, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed a way to personalize chemotherapy drug selection for cancer patients by using cell lines created from their own tumors.

If the technique is successful in further studies, it could replace current laboratory tests to optimize drug selection that have proven technically challenging, of limited use, and slow, the researchers say.

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2013 – Nitric oxide, the versatile gas that helps increase blood flow, transmit nerve signals, and regulate immune function, appears to perform one more biological feat— prolonging the life of an organism and fortifying it against environmental stress, according to a new study.

Urinary-tract infections are the second most common bacterial infection in humans, and many of them are recurrent. A study published by Cell Press on February 14th in the journal Immunity reveals the cellular and molecular basis of recurrent bladder infections and suggests possible treatment strategies, such as vaccines, to prevent this common problem.

In the accompanying study, the researchers used data from the 1000 Genomes Project to analyze DNA sequence variations across the entire genome. They identified hundreds of gene variants that potentially contributed to human evolutionary adaptation. One of these variants, a mutation in the TLR5 gene, changed the immune responses of cells exposed to bacterial proteins, suggesting that this variant could confer a fitness advantage by protecting against bacterial infections.

The first animal model of recent human evolution reveals that a single mutation produced several traits common in East Asian peoples, from thicker hair to denser sweat glands, an international team of researchers reports.

DURHAM, N.C. – Recurrent bladder infections, which are especially common among women, may result from a defect among the bladder's immune fighters that keeps them from remembering previous bacterial infections. The immune memory lapse can hamper a timely and effective attack, according to researchers at Duke Medicine and Duke-National University of Singapore.

A research team from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has discovered an approach that could make gene therapy dramatically more effective for patients.

Led by professor Eric Arts, PhD, the scientists discovered that the process of gene therapy is missing essential elements thereby reducing the effectiveness of this treatment. Re-introducing this element into their model system suggests that improvements for gene therapy areon the horizon.

BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE, Mass.––Tumors are not factories for the mass production of identical cancer cells, but are, in reality, patchworks of cells with different patterns of gene mutations. In a new study, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute show, more fully than ever before, how these mutations shift and evolve over time in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) – providing a strobe-like look at the genetic past, present, and future of CLL tumors.

Gene wars rage inside our cells, with invading DNA regularly threatening to subvert our human blueprint. Now, building on Nobel-Prize-winning findings, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered a molecular machine that helps protect a cell's genes against these DNA interlopers.

Scientists investigating how certain genes affect an individual's risk of developing coronary heart disease have identified a new therapeutic target, according to research published today in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

They have discovered that an enzyme known as ADAMTS7 plays a crucial role in the build-up of cells in the coronary arteries which lead to coronary heart disease.